Improvement in skeleton skirts



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS OPPER, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN SKELETON SKIRTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,776, (lated July 1, 1862.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, MORRIS OPPEE, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and Valuable Improvement in Skeleton Skirts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My said invention relates to the means ofsecuring the hoops to the tapes.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a portion of the exterior of a skirt made inmy improved manner. Fig. 2 represents the interior of the same; and Figs. 3 to 9, inclusive, represent the clasp in the-several stages of construction and application.

Similar letters ofreference indicatelikeparts in all the figures.

M is the tape. Itis woven or otherwise pre-` pared with holes or slits m m for the reception of the clasp at the intersections with the hoops.

A B C is the clasp, which is first struck out of thin sheet metal in the form shown in Fig. 3, and then successively bent linto the forms shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the part A being used to secure the clasp to the hoop D and the parts B and C to secure the tape thereto. The clasp is first placed upon the hoop D and the lips A bent so as to tightly clasp it, as shown in Fig. 6. The tape Mis then applied, as shown in Fig. 7, the parts B and. O being inserted through the openings m m in the tape provided for that purpose. These openings may be woven in the tape, or opened by a pointed instrument, or cut in by a proper punch, the former being` t-he better Way, but the latter the most expeditious and cheapest. Thel part B is then bent down upon the tape and the part C'folded over within the lips of- B, as shown in Fig. 8. The next operation,which consists in bending down the ears B, so as to bind C and B firmly together, completes the fastening, when itis in the form shown in Figs. 9, 1, and 2. By attaching the hoops to the tapes th rough the holes m m, asvshown, the security of the fastening is not dependent on the tightness of the clasp or the friction caused thereby. The tape may be so loosely attached, either by accident or design, as to allow of considerable play when in use and still be perfectly secure, whereas in all fastenings heretofore known to me the tape must be rigidly attached to the hoop, or it was liable to be slipped therefrom.

s Another advantage due to my improved clasp is that by holding the hoop and tape each by a separate and independent clinch or grip it secures each more firmly, and is not as liable to become detached by the strains received when in use.

The end C, being secured by the lips of B, cannot protrude so as to tear the adjacent garment, and will not become loosened by any ordinary strain. Itis believed that a skirt made in this manner will be more durable than any before known which are equally cheap.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Attaching the' hoops to the tapes in a skeleton skirt by means of clasps which extend through one or more holes in the tapes and pass around portions of such tapes while they are secured to the hoops by other parts of the clasp, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The specific construction of the clasp A -B (l, consisting of the lips A, adapted to'fold over the hoop in the manner shown, and the lips B, adapted to be inserted through the tape and tofold over the part C, on the opposite side of the tape, in the manner shown, for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MORRIS OPPER. Witnesses:

G. H. Bassoon, O. M. STILLMAN. 

